Maximilian planned at the outset of his journey to stop at New Harmony to visit the distinguished entomologist Thomas Say, who had accompanied Stephen Long's 1819-20 expedition to the Rocky Mountains and from whom Maximilian hoped to obtain advice concerning travel in the West. The stay at New Harmony proved longer than intended because the Prince contracted "a serious indisposition nearly resembling cholera." On October 23 and 30, he noted in his journal that Bodmer made drawings of New Harmony. It is not certain if this undated study is referred to in either case.

On October 17 the Water Witch approached the settlement of Rome, Indiana, opposite Cloverburg, Kentucky. In the afternoon it anchored at Stevensport below Rome, where Bodmer made two watercolor studies of the river.

On the afternoon of October 15, Maximilian's party prepared to embark once again on the Ohio at Portland, about half an hour from Louisville. Near Portland an island provided docking facilities for river craft. Among these was the Water Witch on which the travelers departed downriver. Bodmer's sketch of an Ohio riverboat at Portland, possibly the Water Witch itself, was made on October 16, the morning of their departure.

While staying at Pittsburgh through October 7, Maximilian and his companions made periodic excursions into the countryside in the interests of natural history. On September 29 Maximilian and Bodmer visited the neighboring settlement of Economy, "founded by that peculiar separatist colony from Wurttemberg," according to Maximilian's account. At Economy the Prince was delighted to discover a large building with a public assembly hall and displays of natural history specimens. He also attended a religious service presided over by George Rapp, the founder of the colony.

With stopovers at Huntington and Ebensburg, where they stayed several days waiting for Bodmer and Saynisch to catch up with them, Maximilian and Dreidoppel reached Pittsburgh around midnight on September 26. Securing accommodations at the Exchange Hotel, they were soon joined there by Bodmer and Saynisch.

On the evening of August 3r, Maximilian and Bodmer journeyed to the neighboring village of Lehighton on Mahoning Creek. Here Bodmer made a watercolor study of the high wooded mountains above the valley and a view "looking ahead above the bridge," according to Maximilian's journal. That night was spent at Craig's tavern in the Lehigh Gap. The following morning Maximilian returned to Bethlehem, leaving Bodmer behind to obtain further views.

On the afternoon of August 2 71 Maximilian and Bodmer explored the banks of Tobyhanna Creek, and Bodmer made a sketch of the bridge crossing it. Maximilian commented in his journal that Bodmer waded several times across the stream until he found "a favorable spot for the view. The rest of us were looking for birds and plants." Another view of this bridge was reproduced as Vignette IV in the atlas of plates that accompanied the publication of Maximilian's journal nearly ten years later.

Arriving at Dutotsburgh on the evening of August 23, the travelers stayed overnight at the local tavern. In the morning Maximilian met the old Frenchman Dutot for whom the town had been named, and Bodmer made a quick sketch of Dutot's house during the morning of August 24

This unfinished watercolor, made at Bethlehem during the latter part of July, depicts the landscape in the direction of Mauch Chunk, center of an important anthracite coal mining operation some fifty miles away. It includes a view of Wohler's vineyards near the inn of that name on the outskirts of Bethlehem.

Before sunup on July 25, Maximilian and Bodmer set out for Bethlehem, at that time a settlement of about a thousand persons located on the stage line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. On the evening of his arrival, Maximilian met a German physician, Lewis Saynisch, who accompanied him on several outings in the area. At Bethlehem, Bodmer occupied himself with sketching various points of local interest.